DS Session: Kodaline perform 'Love Like This' - watch

Things could have been very different for Kodaline. Originally named 21 Demands, the Irish quartet were part of a local reality series called 'You're A Star'; a show similar to The X Factor that they didn't win and risked leaving them on the talent show scrapheap.

Fast-forward six years, the renamed Kodaline launched in September last year; their big break coming from 'All I Want', a song that featured on medical drama Grey's Anatomy and was promptly picked up by Radio 1.

Since then, they've scored an Irish number one and UK top 20 hit in 'High Hopes' and released their latest single 'Love Like This', which the band have performed exclusively for Digital Spy at London's Red Bull Studios below.

"It's been an amazing eight months - we haven't really been home much," singer Stephen Garrigan told us. "If we have a night off we'll go to an open mic night or go busking or something."

The band recently completed a three-week tour of the US, something they admit went a lot better than they'd anticipated.

"We didn't realize how much Americans love the Irish!" Mark Prendergast admits with a snigger. "Apparently they've all got Irish roots in them, despite most not knowing where Ireland is. We even managed to convince someone that Ireland was the biggest continent outside of America."

And given their brand of exuberant and heart-warming folk-pop, they've rarely found it difficult to get a crowd in the mood, regardless of their location. "Every state is like its own country and culture, so everyone was so different," Prendergast explains. "Even when we weren't meant to be performing, we'd go to a local blues bar in some gangster area of town and start playing. Most nights we'd get 14 or 15 people up on stage helping us out."

Back on home soil, the group are on just about every meaningful festival lineup going this summer, including Reading & Leeds, Longitude, Hard Rock Calling and Glastonbury. "We've got a great slot at Glasto," Prendergast says excitedly, before adding of its headliners: "I'll admit though that I was hoping for Daft Punk, but the headliners they've got are still incredible."

One of the headliners is folk-rockers Mumford & Sons, a band they're often compared to. Asked whether they hope to achieve a similar global level of success, Garrigan bashfully replies: "They've stayed so down to earth. I've been to a show of theirs and they'll come off stage and just carry on playing in a bar with the fans. They're a proper, proper band and they just love music."

Kodaline's long-awaited debut In A Perfect World is released in the UK this week; a "collection of life experiences" that Garrigan assures has a very simple message. "I'm a true believer in positive thinking. "Even when you're going through s**t, staying positive is key. That's essentially what the whole album is about. When things get bad, you've got to keep looking forward to something better." It's certainly a life lesson they know a thing or two about.